Consider, then, what it must be like to be a true-blue Rush Limbaugh fan, or someone who thinks Michele Bachmann is a serious lawmaker with a grasp of the issues – put yourself into that person’s shoes for a moment, and consider what a nightmarish landscape the world around them must represent:

In reality, Americans are safer and more secure today than at any point in human history. But inhabitants of the world of the hard-right are surrounded by danger – from mobs of thugs at home to a variety of powerful and deadly enemies abroad.

It’s one thing to be angry about someone getting a raw deal, or upset about misery and suffering. If nothing else, wanting society to work better for more people is a good thing–and we can have sincere disagreements about what “better” means and how to achieve. But these guys are panicked. It’s almost as if they’ve replaced happiness with fear.

Maybe we should be thankful they’re not even crazier than they already are.

I almost feel sorry for them. Conservatives of the world, you have nothing to lose but your chains….